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Author
Topic: I think my health is declining! (Read 2309 times)

I've noticed a few issues, and I'm wondering if everything is related to HIV infection or if it's just random issues that are happening to me...

1. Consistent elbow pain/soreness, over 1 month (no physical injury)- Hoping this is not some sort of bone cancer or anything serious.

2. heat rash?, light red spots all over upper body, 2 months or longer? My general doctor said this it's a heat rash, but I haven't been in any heat, and these spots remain even when I am cool.

3. elevated liver enzymes? Had my liver enzymes tested recently because I was prescribed an anti-fungal by my general doctor for a minor case of jock itch and athletes foot. The liver enzymes came back as elevated. He said that this was probably because of hepatitis infection? According to my ID doctor, I don't have an active infection, however.

4. Random Night sweats. 2 months

5. high lymphocytes count? 53%

Do you guys think something is going on here? Or is this just a bunch of unrelated junk.

You're not on meds yet, so yeah you're going to feel like shit sometimes. I'm sure the joint pain is due to common inflammatory effects of HIV. You can get that even when on meds, but I'm sure it's more common in the absence of your virus being controlled.

You made a thread a couple months ago along the lines of "DISEASE PROGRESSION!" but after some back and forth you calmed down a bit. Look, the bottom line is that at some point you'll start taking meds and hopefully some of these oddities will disappear. It's your choice not to be on meds at this point, you can go on them if you want. I'm not sure why you're surprised that you have night sweats -- that's very common with HIV and not being on meds. You have a hefty virus in your body and shit happens like that.

I guess I'm just so used to living with no symptoms... and now that I'm diagnosed, all of a sudden I get all these symptoms. It's a bit much. I was worried that I might have cancer or something serious in my bones, because my lymphocytes are so high and the pain is localized in one spot. I guess my mind is just running wild with everything. I'll get it together.

no reason to pray about that meds are the one and only thing that controls HIV giving your body the chance to recover and get back some of the good health that the unchecked HIV is stealing from you right now.

if you're wanting prayers because you're worried about the effect of the meds, then you really are looking at all this backwards. HIV is your enemy; meds are your friends.

if you're wanting prayers because you're worried about the effect of the meds, then you really are looking at all this backwards. HIV is your enemy; meds are your friends.

leatherman, thank you! I think I got flipped backwards when I first got diagnosed and I started readying any and everything off the net. A lot of places were "warning" against hiv meds and stuff. I quickly found that the people pushing those ideas were dropping dead like flies, so I decided to take the meds.... but I think I must be still scarred. I have to recondition my mind to think that the meds are my friend. Thanks for the perspective... I needed to hear that.

when I first got diagnosed and I started readying any and everything off the net. A lot of places were "warning" against hiv meds and stuff. I quickly found that the people pushing those ideas were dropping dead like flies, so I decided to take the meds.

if you were dx'ed in 2012 and still reading that people were warning against HIV meds and those people were dropping like flies, then you need to get off the net - or just stay here in the lessons section.

were you looking at dates on the "information" you were reading? Were you judging those places where you got this "information" as to the validity of their knowledge? Were you looking at the percentage of pro-med sites to anti-med sites?

I ask because people, even denialists, haven't really been dropping like flies in a long time, because just too many people have realized the benefits of meds (ie in 1985 with no meds, people were dying left and right; in 2010 with meds, deaths from AIDS pretty much happens to those very late diagnosed or people who have been living with the disease, meds and the complications for 20+ yrs). If you were reading in 2010-2012 that people were still warning against meds, you couldn't have been reading very many sites nor reading people with real medical degrees and knowledge.

I hope you understand that I'm trying really hard to make a point so you can think rationally about the meds. Quite frankly, all my friends with HIV from before 1995 are dead - because without any meds there was no hope. I am only still here because in 1992 I started meds and have been talking various meds (18 different ones all told) through 20 yrs. To think that there's another reason the deaths from HIV in America dropped off so dramatically from anything else but the meds is just silly.

And just to ease you mind a bit further about the meds in general, please take some time to read the package insert that will come with whatever med your doctor prescribes. You'll see that sometimes up to 10% of people experience some short term side effects (like vomiting, diarrhea, etc); but most of that should be understandable because purging a viral load of millions from your body, adjusting to levels of new medications in your system, and your immune system recovering is a pretty serious bodily change. When you continue reading you'll see that long term side effects are much rarer, happening to 4% and less - and usually much less - people taking the meds.

it's 2012 (well almost 2013), it's not 1992 with only AZT available. Meds have been proven to work (say hello to all those folks in the Longterm Survivors forum here ); and med side effects are infrequent. Even if you do experience side effects, there are often ways to deal with those issues or even other meds that you can take instead.

it's 2012 (well almost 2013), it's not 1992 with only AZT available. Meds have been proven to work (say hello to all those folks in the Longterm Survivors forum here ); and med side effects are infrequent. Even if you do experience side effects, there are often ways to deal with those issues or even other meds that you can take instead.

Besides, many of us have already done the hard work for you and gone through the side effects and suffering and are still here.

Seroconverted: Early 80sTested & confirmed what I already knew: early 90s

Current regimen: Atripla. Last regimen: Epzicom, Sustiva (since its inception with NO adverse side effects: no vivid dreams and NONE of the problems people who can't tolerate this drug may experience: color me lucky )Past regimensFun stuff (in the past): HAV/HBV, crypto, shingles, AIDS, PCP